In the leadup to this week’s game at TCU, West Virginia head coach Neal Brown said this was the Mountaineers’ chance to prove that they are contenders in the Big 12.
Consider that mission accomplished as the Mountaineers went on the road and topped last year’s national runner-up, 24-21, on Saturday night.
As has become the trend with the 2023 West Virginia team, Saturday night’s win was not a thing of beauty.
West Virginia let several opportunities go by, including a last-second field goal before halftime, two turnovers on downs in plus territory and a handful of dropped interceptions on defense. In years past, those kinds of mistakes would have resulted in a lopsided loss for Brown and the Mountaineers.
In 2023, however, the Mountaineers have shown that they are tough, physically and mentally, and possess the ability to overcome such miscues, and they did so again on Saturday.
Despite losing three defensive starters to injury, WVU thoroughly dominated TCU in the second half — the Horned Frogs had a single yard of offense in the third quarter — and blocked two would-be game-tying field goals in the final five minutes to escape Fort Worth with a huge victory.
It’s especially big for Brown, who has not caught very many breaks over his five seasons in Morgantown. To start 4-1 with a team that was picked to finish last in the conference and getting that fourth win over one of the best teams in the nation last season shows that the Mountaineers are not to be underestimated.
TCU entered the game averaging 38 points and nearly 500 yards of offense per game. WVU shut the Horned Frogs out in the second half, holding them to just 121 yards in the process. TCU’s six second-half drives — all of which came when the game was either tied or within one score — resulted in four punts and two missed field goals.
After weeks of debating whether or not WVU is actually good or had just been getting lucky facing bad teams, I am ready to proclaim that the Mountaineers are for real this season.
Are they for real to the point where they could legitimately contend for a Big 12 title? I’m not convinced of that just yet, but I can say with full confidence that this is a good, well-coached and tough-as-nails football team that the Mountain State can be proud to call its own.
Good teams win on the road, good teams win when they aren’t at their best and good teams find ways to overcome adversity. The Mountaineers did all three on Saturday and proved, definitively, that they are a good football team.
